Guide and pattern strip



June 22 1926. 1,590,149

. s. H. cALKlNs GUIDE-AND PATTERN swam Filed Sept. 30 192s ATTORNEY Patented June 22, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SEWARD HOMER CALKINS, or FLUSHING, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 'ro THE TRAITEL MARBLE COMPANY, E LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YORK.

GUIDE AND PATTERN STRIP.

Application filed September 30, 1925. Serial No. 59,649.

1 tion, of the laying ofsuch top finishes as may be required, and usually at such a level as to permit conduits, pipes, etc. to be laid on said arches, in connection with plumbing and other requirements.

It is also the common practice to prepare I an underbed to receive the finished surface when such surface is to be made of a cement composition.

This underbed is usually composed of -a cinder fill, being a mixture of sand, cinders and cemen or other suitable composition, and is spread on top of the previously formed floor arches to the required thick- 80 ness necessary to form a level and even bed. top of the underbed and consists generally of a cement and fine sand base.

Flooring or wall vsurfaces of such construction wherein the cement finished wearing surface is laid directly on the concrete, are generally regarded as part of the structural unit of the building of which they form a part. V

a Wall and flooring surfaces such as t1le, parquetting, terrazzo, and linoleum, are not considered as part of the structural unit of a building, but rather as supplemental or finishing surfaces, and as a rule cost tw1ce as much to construct as a cement flooring or wall surface.

In constructing terrazzo flooring, a foundation or base layer made of cinders, sand and cement mixed; sometimes broken stone is laid on the floor arches of a building, and usually tampedand left to dry to the desired extent.

. A second or screed layer is then applied to the top of the base layer, and is generally composed of about four parts of sand and Thefinished layer is then applied to the aessuED" one part of cement, mixed, and laid on the foundation while in a wet or plastic condition and is leveled off by a straight edge or screed, and generally is'not tamped.

A third or finishing layer is applied to the top of the screed layer consisting of crushed marble and Portland cement, usingv about 200 pounds of crushed marble to about 100 pounds of-cement.

The finishing layer is applied to the screed coat while in a wet or plastic con- 55 dition, after the screed coat has hardened somewhat, but not enough to prevent a firm bond being formed between the screed layer, and the top or finishing layer.

Cracks frequently form in flooring and wall surfaces constructed of a cement-finish, as well as those having a terrazzo surface, and it has been found to be difiicult to repair the top surfaces of such flooring or wall surface, and practically impossible to entirely remove all evidence of the original crack. 7

The method usually resorted to in connection with concrete surfacesis to cut out the top surface along the line of the crack 90 and fill in the cut out portion of the top' surface with new material. 4

In such cases the new "material generally shrinks in hardening to such an extent that the outer margins of the new material separate from the adjacent margins of the old material ofthe top surface, and leave two small separated cracks instead of the one original larger-crack.

The new material used moreoveris generally of a somewhat different shade from that of the old material and the new patch is clearly apparent.

ut or open joints have been formed in concrete surfaces so that when a crack 96 forms, it may occur along the line of the cut or openjoints and not present an objec tional appearance.

Such

cut or open oints havealso been used to enable asection of a flooring to 100 be removed and replaced when a crack appeared therein. v The cut or open joints are formed in the flooring material while such material is in a semi-plastic condition, and in such cases the side walls adjacent said joints dry and shrink in advance of the material forming the body of the sections and the shrinki cut or open oint produces a wide crack formed by that double shrinkage.

Where such uneven drying and shrinkage of the different parts of a section takes place moreover, the finished sections do not have a uniform density throughout their area.

In laying. terrazzo flooring, pattern and guide strips have been used to aid in avoiding the formation" of irregular cracks in such flooring and good results have been obtained from the use of strips of suitable construction.

Such'strips are constructed of thin metal and are easily applied to the screed coat while such coat is in a semi-plastic condition 'bybeing pressed into the material forming the screed coat or layer.

= But up to "the present time it has not been possible to obtain the same results in con nection with a cement outer or wearing surface as are obtained by the use of such strip in connection with the screen layer of a terrazzo flooring.

There is no screed coat or layer used in connection with a cement-finished wall or flooring. In such construction the cement coat or layer is applied directly to the foundation which, as hereinbefore stated is composed of a cylinder fill, being a mixture of cinders, sand and cement.

In applying guide strips to the material forming a flooring or other surface it is necessary to place the strip in position before the top layer or'coat is applied, and no guide strip has heretofore been produced that is capable of being pressed into the body of coarse material forming the foundation ofa concrete flooring, and at the same time be thin enough to answer the purpose for which such strips are intended.

This invention has for one of its main objects, therefore, to provide a pattern and guide strip that may be advantageously used in connection with flooring and other surfaces, having a cement outer or wearing surface and an underbed of relatively coarse material.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pattern and guide strip adapted to be used with cement flooring or other surfaces to prevent or control the formation of cracks in said surfaces, without the use of cut or open joints.

The invention is also designed to pro-- vide a pattern and guide strip having means for maintaining the lateral alignment or straightness of the strip in position, and for so anchoring the strip as to prevent movement thereof in either an upward or downward direction, or any torsional movement thereof.

The invention has. for an object also to provide a guide strip of the class described provided with means for locking together adjacent sections of a flooring or other sur-- face, and especially adapted to eliminate shrinkage of the cement or plastic finish by preventing the air from penetrating on opposite sides of the strip, and for maintaining the same density of the finished surface along the edges of the strip as in other portions remote from the strip.

These and other objects, apparent to those skilled in the art, are accomplished by the means hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention; but it is to be understood that changes, modifications, and alterations may be made therein, Without departing from the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is aperspective view of pattern and guide stripsembodying the invention arranged in position to. form a section of a wall or flooring.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a pattern and guide strip similar to those shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a. perspective view of a section of a flooring having embedded therein pattern and guide strips embodying the inventhe body of the strip. and bent at a right angle to said body. The flanges 3 preferably extend longitudinally of the body of the strip with their inner margine'xtending sub stantially in line with the lower edge 4, of the strip.

Openings 5 are formed by cutting out the flanges 3, the lower margin of said openings being also in substantial alignment with the lower edge 4 of the strip. 7 j

The strip is.increased in width at the parts where the openings 5 are formed, and provided with anchors 6 at the opposite ends of said openings, extending in the plane of the body of the strip.

These anchors are preferably constructed with inclined upper edges 7 to aid in preventing any upward movement of the strip when the underbed has hardened around them.

The anchors Gare connected by a bar 8, the bar and anchors constituting in effect a unitary anchor designed to hold the strip against lateral or torsional movement.

and cement 9 is placed upon an arch or foundation, and while the underbed is in a semiplastic condition the anchors 6 and 8 are pressed into the underbed until the flanges 3 bear upon the upper surface of said bed.

The novel construction of the anchors 6 and 8, being in efiect offset from the body of the strip, enables the anchors to be readily pressed into the underbed regardless of the coarseness of the material forming said bed.

When the anchors 6 and 8 are in place, the lower edge at of the strip, as well as the body of the flanges 3, lie on the top of the underbed, and the stripis held in position in and on said underbed while the cement-layer is being applied thereto. i

The width of the strip from the upper edge 2 to the lower edge 4, defines the depth or thickness of the top cement layer.

While the strip is so held in position in the underbed the cement and fine sand forming the top layer 10 is placed within the sections formed by the strips, and such material passes into the openings 5 whereby the material forming adjacent sections is locked together, when the material has hardened.

When the cement material is placed within the sections formed by the guide strips, the upper edge 2 of the strips acts as leveling guides to provide an even, level, wearing surface.

By the use of a pattern and guide strip constructed as herein illustrated and described, a new structure of flooring or other surface is produced, using cement as an outer or flooring surface and an underbed of relatively coarse material.

With the pattern and guide strips heretofore used in connection with terrazzo flooring, it has been impossible to produce the result obtained by the present invention for the reason that in laying terrazzo floorings. a screed coat isused that is made .of relatively fine material, and the lower half of the strip is pressed into the screed coat while that coat is in a semi-plastic condition. But such a strip can not be'pressed bodily into an underbed of relatively coarse material throughout the length of the strip.

That difficulty is overcome in the present invention by arranging the body of the strip on top of the relatively coarse underbed, and

by pressing the anchors only in'te the underbed. v

The anchors moreover are soconstructed as to be readily pressed into the underbed notwithstanding the coarseness of the material forming the underbed, and are firmly held in place when the underbed becomes hardened around the anchors.

In laying cement floors heretofore the flooring has been commonly formed in sections by means of cut or open joints. lYhen so constructed air enters into the joints and causes the side walls forming said joints to dry in advance of the body of the sectionsv formed by the open joints, thereby causing cracks to form in the sections caused by the trary the continuity of the underbed struc ture is preserved, andalthough on its surface the top or finishing. layer of concreteappears to be divided into independent sections by means of the guidestrips, the sections in fact are locked together by the material forming the top layer passing through the openings While for most purposes I prefer to use an anchor consisting of the anchor plates 6 and connecting bar 8, such construction may be modified, however, without departing .from the general idea ofa pattern and guide strip having anchors extending below the mean lower edge of the strip adapted to anchor the strip in place, and also provided with additional material to compensate for the material cut away from the body of the strip to form the flanges 2 and openings 5.

These strips are preferably made of brass, but other material may be used if desired, without departing from the invention.

If it is not desired to lock adjacent sections of the top layer together the openings 6 in the strip may be omitted and flanges 13 formed on the lower margin of the strip and bent at an angle thereto, andanchors 12 formed on the lower edge of the strip intermediate said flanges as shown in Figure5.

What'I claim is: v

1. For use in laying flooring and other surfaces. having a cement finishing layer and an underbed of relatively coarse material, a guide and pattern strip having an uninterrupted upper edge, aseries of flanges extending at a ri ht angle to the "plane of said strip on the line of the lower edge of said strip, a series of openings arranged above said flanges, and a series of anchors lying in the plane of said strip and extending below the line of connection between said strip and flanges.

2. For use in laying flooring and other surfaces having a cement finishing layer and an underbed of relatively coarse material, a guide and pattern strip having an uninterrupted upper edge, a series of flanges extending at a right angle to the plane of said strip on the line of the lower edge of said strip, a series of openings arranged above said flanges, and a series of anchors extending 'below said flanges.

3. For use in laying flooring and other surfaces having a cement finishing layer and an underbed of relatively coarse material, a guide and pattern. strip having an uninterrupted upper edge, a series of flanges extending at a right angle to the plane of said strip, a series of openin above said flanges, and anchors below sai flanges comprising a longitudinal bar, and wings connected with the ends of said bar.

SEWARD HOMER GALKINS. 

